You can almost hear the grass growing…

The New Year also brought with it the beginning of the monsoon season. The ‘rainy’ (I fondly refer to it as ‘hurricaney’) season has brought more than just disasters to Indonesia…

It has a constant mouldy-humid stench on everything... because nothing ever COMPLETELY dries!

It has also increased the growth-rate of our lawn exponentially! We have been ‘letting it go’ for several reason… Aesthetically, I prefer the jungle theme we’ve created – it attracts all kinds of birds whose voices are much more pleasing to awaken to than the ambient street noise beyond; but more than this, there is part of me that is doing it out of defiance… we found out that the grass-cutting guy who cut our grass for us once more than quadrupled his charge, especially for us… (even after we invited him for lunch when he was done, and gave him ice tea while he worked – I’m pretty sure he doesn’t receive treatment like that anywhere else!) so we are refusing to give him any more business!

The neighbours may not be happy about it, but we wouldn’t know ... we don't know them... i think it's a medium-scale neighbourhood pretending to be upscale... so they're not into jungles, and most likely have a problem with the crazy white girls lawn… honestly, we've never even SEEN half the neighbours... they live behind TALL gates (which their ‘house-helpers’ open for them)... and they drive right up to their doorsteps, so the sun can only touch them for 1.4 seconds....



White = beautiful, you see!

You wouldn't believe all the whitening treatments, creams, scrubs, soaps, etc! (And although I haven’t seen them, Jonathan tells me that when he was here the big thing was the breast enlargement creams at all the checkouts (where you'd normally find the gum)!)

Tangkoko and its most-visited inhabitants, the Tarsiers!

Over the Christmas holidays Martin and I rented a motorcycle from a local ojek driver to get out of the city and see some of the rest of North Sulawesi.

One of our intended destinations was the Tangkoko-Dua Saudara Nature Reserve in Batu Putih, just on the other side of the northern arm of Sulawesi from Manado. "Intended?", you ask? Exactly. Oh, don't get me wrong, we made it there... eventually. Luckily life's about the journey, right!? There really are no such things as 'road maps' in Indonesia, so we didn't even bother trying to find one before setting out... we figured, hey, our Indonesian is beyond passable at this point... we'll find our way.

We had a breath-taking tour of the ENTIRE Northern tip of Sulawesi before finding a toppled over road sign (another rarity in Indonesia!) indicating a turnoff down a cow path to the tiny town we'd been in search of. The vistas were absolutely stunning, and although the roads were somewhat treacherous at points, we certainly found a few lovely out-of-the-way spots along the coast on our way to Batu Putih (translated: White Rock, and no, there wasn’t a single one!)

The jungles of the Tangkoko Reserve are home to a variety of flora and fauna, including Black Macaque Apes, Hornbills, and Maleo Birds, however its mascot species is the Tarsier Monkey.

The Spectral Tarsier, smaller than the size of my fist, is said to be the smallest monkey in the World! Its eyes (and satellitic ears, for that matter) are literally bigger than it’s stomach… and it can rotate its head almost 180 degrees in every-which direction! Needless to say, these little gremlins really impressed me. We trucked through the jungle at sunset (trusting that our guide would be able to find his way back in the dark!), to arrive at the ‘sleeping tree’ of a family of Tarsiers just as they would be waking and heading out to find ‘breakfast’. They are nocturnal animals, and live in family groups – they spend the night foraging for insects, but always return to the same tree at dawn to sleep the day away. About ten minutes after sunset the first set of eyes peered out at us from the hollow trunk of a giant fig, then another, then another (I counted 10 in total, including one tiny baby!)… the group spent a few minutes interacting (or posing for pics???) before leaping off in different directions in search of food. These miniature munchkins can leap about 2 meters in a single bound!

Another tiny inhabitant of the Tangkoko Reserve left its impression on me as well… the genones (chicken fleas?) left me scratching for days!!!

Survived another one!

You've probably all heard the news about the 7.3 earthquake here in Manado last night. Although it was scary and strong and looong, there is no major damage and very few injuries. We were at the gym -- I had just stepped off the treadmill, and when it first started, I wasn't sure if it was my legs that had turned to jello from running... then I realized, and got OUT of there!!! It lasted for almost a minute, but was a liquidy, side-to-side motion (not like the jolting and jerking in Jogja); the ground just seemed to turn to jello beneath our feet!

The craziness began with the panic which ensued when the news stations issued a tsunami warning! We also decided best to be on the safe side and went to a friend's house which is on the size of a mountain. We are ready for another, staying alert, but not getting caught up in the panic.

Just so you know, thankfully, we're ok.

Flight (Transportation) in Indonesia

With the latest rash of transportation failures in Indonesia (passenger plane crashes, ferry with 600 passengers capsizing, trains de-railing)… I am less-than-inspired to put my life in the hands of any of the budget airlines in operation in Indonesia.

I remember thinking that when we were on our first site visit to Papua and we boarded a dash 9… I saw several missing bolts, as well as track-lighting held down by duct-tape… it made me wonder what else they were using the magic silver stuff for… Although I’ve always been a big proponent of duct tape as useful for almost anything… in my opinion, that DOES NOT include mechanical repairs or bungee jumping! The picture above was Martin, BEFORE boarding, that particular flight (note the smile... it was not there upon landing!)

It’s no wonder, really, that Indonesia is plagued by air-carrier issues… when the airlines choose confidence-inspiring slogans like: Lion Air – We Fly Because We CAN; Adam Air – We’ll fly if we want to; and my favourite, Wings Air – Fly is Cheap….



…groan…

On top of this, it’s a well-known fact that the communications network in Indonesia has several gaps in the system during which planes disappear from radar and flight crew have no contact with ground (almost like the Bermuda triangle of Asia, but worse because a) it’s a kaleidoscope of geometric shapes, and b) it’s EXPLAINABLE!)

The Adam Air flight that mysteriously disappeared on January 1st hasn’t even been FOUND yet… And because the plane was destined for Manado, every day on the front page of the paper there is a new series of speculations as to what may have happened… the latest, today – a bomb! This is followed by a list of the shards of the plane that have been found, as well as personal items that have been recovered. No bodies yet, though.

Unfortunately, no. No new camera yet. Those photos were 'archived'... But I'm working on a solution. The problem is that the underwater housing for my camera was NOT stolen... but it will only house my specific camera, so I have to replace it with the same model. Of course, my model has been discontinued by Canon, and I can't find one HERE anywhere! I have found it on ebay, but none of the ebay sellers want to ship to Indonesia! What a rig-a-ma-roll!

The Peanut Vendor


I remember playing a song in our highschool jazz band called "The Peanut Vendor". It was one of my favorites... I had a funky sax solo. But I didn't know such a thing actually still exists!?! Only in Indonesia. They usually come out in the afternoons, around the same time as the corn-on-the-cob carts.

The Bajo -- Sea Gypsies



Just before the Christmas holidays we made our first trip to Nain Island. The people of Nain are of Bajo decent. The Bajo have always had a very close association with the sea... originally they lived a nomadic lifestyle on ships. Now, although they have settled into permanent, or semi-permanent communities, they still live on the water -- literally! The majority of their houses are built on stilts above the water. The Bajo people rely on the sea for their livelihoods; they have a close cultural and spiritual affinity with the sea and believe that the sea spirits have tremendous influence over their lives. The Bajo are often thought to exploit the sea’s bounty however they wish, causing a decline in marine resources, however, oftentimes, the Bajo employ much more sustainable fishing practices than other fishing communities found in Indonesian waters.

A good friend and work-mate of ours is a native of this tribe, so we were his guests for the visit to the island... and as such, we were welcomed with open arms, and treated like kings!


From an early age, kids are one with the water.



They live a simple, unhurried lifestyle. My favourite part of the 'bajo' day, was the afternoon nap... There can be nothing more relaxing than chilling in the shade of a bamboo stilt house in the afternoon sun... the reflections from the surrounding water dancing off the floor, walls and ceiling sooths you to sleep, while the cool breeze blowing from the sea keeps you fresh. aaaahhhh...


Apart from this, there seemed to be little escape from the sun, which seemed more potent in this setting.... So I had to purchase a new hat... It's actually a 'fisherman's hat', but I thought it was pretty and practical (oh, groan... mom, I'm definitely your daughter!), and for 50 cents, you can't go wrong!


We can't wait to return to this unique community next year!

Christmas Season in Manado

Being that Manado is a predominantly Christian city, Christmas is BIG here…

There are a few things that really struck me that are commonplace in Manado in this Festive Season; the Manadonese people seem to think these things are normal and ok… Kids playing with fire being the big one! Talk about an un-Merry Christmas /Accident waiting to happen! At any given time of day, there are children in the streets with fireworks - everything from fairly innocent sparklers (believe me they don’t look so innocent in the hands of a 2 year old!), to cheap fireworks (on sale in every street stand for Christmas), to home-made coke bottle bombs! The snap-crackle-pop, sizzle-simmer-bang, oohs-and-aaahhhs are a daily event beginning about the middle of December on through the New Year.

Another Christmas Commonality is food… and WAYYYY too much of it. Martin and I were invited to a workmate’s family home for Christmas lunch, which was a scrump-diliicious buffet of Manadonese food… they then invited us to continue on with them. Not knowing what this meant, and having no other prior-engagements, we agreed. It ended up being a culinary tour of ALL of their friends and families’ homes around the city! In Manadonese tradition, people make the rounds for Christmas…. Stopping by and eating and visiting, and eating, and drinking, and eating again… oh MY goodness… I was soooo over-stuffed when we got home, Martin had to roll me in the door sideways!!! Because you see, you can’t refuse… everyone insists that you try their spread… they are even more adamant when you’re a foreigner… they want you to try ALL their dishes, their specialties, their secret family recipe; main courses of beef, bat, fish, pork, dog, and chicken cooked in every style, some veggies, fruits, and all kinds of cookies, puddings and nibblies.

Manoeuvring around the street in town is a little trickier than normal… the city is PACKED! One day the headliner of the city newspaper read “Orang Gunung Turun Gunung” (Mountain People come down the Mountains)! The streets are also crazy with "Sinterpits", teen gangs dressed in santa costumes with black face paint on the hunt for 'naughty' children.

So… for the sad news… I’m afraid I can’t share any of the above with you in picture form, and alas, it will be a long time before I can upload new pics to my blog… my purse (and everything in it, including my camera!) was stolen from our house while we slept on the eve of Christmas eve day! Big Bummer... Could have been worse, I suppose.